ABSTRACT
Werner and Kaplan claim that the idea of reference begins prior to symbolization and outside communication in the peculiar activity of pointing-for-self. This developmental view is directly contradicted by certain approaches in language philosophy based on an analysis of symbolization in adults. The lexical and grammatical/structural measures were compared with independent measures of language. There is a developmental link between language and gesture at the lexical level at thirteen months, although the relationship is strongest with 'stripped down' or abstract gestures with minimal contextual support. The role of object naming in child language and in adult aphasia becomes more specific when one also considers the contextual conditions that elicit naming in both populations. Caramazza and Berndt have also considered the role of metalinguistic awareness in object naming, and they suggest that factors that facilitate recovery of a name often involve setting up automatic eliciting conditions.
